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KAA Gent and Omonia Nicosia lock horns at the Ghelamco Arena in the first leg of their Europa League qualifying playoff round clash on Thursday.
With just 180 minutes separating both sides from a place in the group stages of the European competition, they will both be looking to secure a first-leg advantage.
KAA Gent made it two wins from two in the Belgian Jupiler League last Friday when they saw off Oostende 3-1 away from home.
They have now picked up eight points from the 12 available this season after claiming two draws and two wins from their opening four games.
Gent will now take their first step towards securing a place in the Europa League group stages as they return home where they are currently on a four-game unbeaten run.
Meanwhile, Omonia Nicosia suffered a gruesome 2-0 loss against Apollon Limassol in the Cyprus Super Cup final last weekend.
This followed a decent pre-season campaign where they picked up three wins and lost two of their five friendlies.
Omonia Nicosia head into Thursday on a run of four wins from their last five away games in all competitions, with Friday’s final defeat being the only exception.
KAA Gent vs Omonia Nicosia Head-To-Head
This will be the first-ever meeting between Gent and Omonia Nicosia, who will both be looking to claim an early march on each other.
KAA Gent Form Guide: W-W-D-D-L
Omonia Nicosia Form Guide: L-L-W-W-W
KAA Gent vs Omonia Nicosia Team News
KAA Gent
The Belgian side will be without Julien de Sart, Tarik Tissoudali and Elisha Owusu, who are all recuperating from injuries.
Injured: Julien de Sart, Tarik Tissoudali, Elisha Owusu
Suspended: None
Omonia Nicosia
Barring any late fitness issues, the visiting side head into the game with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
KAA Gent vs Omonia Nicosia Predicted XI
KAA Gent Predicted XI (3-4-3): Davy Roef; Andreas Hanche-Olsen, Michael Ngadeu, Jordan Torunarigha; Matisse Samoise, Sulayman Marreh, Sven Kums, Alessio Castro-Montes; Andrew Hjulsager, Hugo Cuypers, Hyunseok Hong
Omonia Nicosia Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Fabiano; Adam Matthews, Nemanja Miletić, Ádám Lang, Jan Lecjaks; Hector Yuste, Charalambos Charalambous; Fouad Bachirou, Bruno, Andronikos Kakoullis; Tim Matavž
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KAA Gent vs Omonia Nicosia Prediction
While Omonia Nicosia will be looking to restore some pride following their final defeat, they face a Gent side who have kicked off their new Jupiler League campaign on a solid note. We are backing the Belgian side to make use of their home crowd support and claim a vital first-leg victory.
Prediction: KAA Gent 2-0 Omonia Nicosia
